Dr. Benjamin Abella, MD, MPhil

Bio

<p><a href="http://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g20000140/p8128370">Dr. Benjamin Abella</a>&nbsp;is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and the Clinical Research Director of the Center for Resuscitation Science at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the clinical care of cardiac arrest victims, with a special emphasis on methods to improve the quality and training of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). He also maintains an active research program in the use of therapeutic hypothermia to improve survival after resuscitation from cardiac arrest. He is the medical director for the nation's only therapeutic hypothermia intensive training and certification course, based at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Abella also serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association.</p>
<p>Dr. Abella graduated&nbsp;<i>magna cum laude</i>&nbsp;from Washington University in St. Louis and then received a Masters degree in Genetics from Cambridge University in England. After attending medical school at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, he completed dual residency training in both Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago Hospitals, where he won the Hilger Perry Jenkins Award for outstanding teaching and patient care, given to only one resident hospital-wide each year.</p>
<p>Dr. Abella has spoken widely on cardiac arrest and therapeutic hypothermia, as an invited speaker at national and international meetings. He has been active in national initiatives on resuscitation care through his volunteer activities with the American Heart Association (AHA). Dr. Abella has won numerous awards for his work, including the "health breakthrough award" from&nbsp;<i>Ladies Home Journal</i>&nbsp;Magazine. His work has been featured in<i>Newsweek</i>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<i>Popular Science</i>, as well as on National Geographic, CNN, and the ABC Network program 20/20. He recently appeared on the&nbsp;<i>Today Show&nbsp;</i>with Matt Lauer to discuss the importance of CPR.</p>
<p>For more information about the therapeutic hypothermia training program for which Dr. Abella serves as the Medical Director, look&nbsp;<a href="http://www.med.upenn.edu/resuscitation/hypothermia/HypothermiaTraining.shtml">here.</a></p>